Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his title hopes wane

• A superb win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to rescue a point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life